Kentucky wrestling regulations are very specific in actions they forbid. Among the outlawed actions are bleeding (whether blading or hardway), using weapons designed to make someone bleed (such as thumbtacks), threatening any member of the audience, or brawling into the crowd.
In the event of bleeding, the wrestler does have the option to try and stop the bleeding. If they can stop it quickly, the match is allowed to continue. If they cannot, then the match is required to end immediately.
Several sources within the Kentucky independent community have confirmed that the Kentucky Athletic Commission fined the WWE $900 due to the bleeding of Shawn Michaels and HHH at the Backlash pay-per-view.
While that sum is trivial to Vince McMahon, it’s very easy to see how even a threat of a nine hundred dollar fine would cause an average independent promoter to comply with the regulations.
